Get Greener During Sustainability Week

Sustainability Week at Franklin & Marshall College, to be held March 30 to April 4, challenges students, faculty, staff and the Lancaster community to consider a greener, more sustainable world.

“It’s your chance to learn about what the College is doing to promote sustainability and what you can do to promote it, too,” said Rebecca Rehr ’09, one of the organizers of the week’s events.

“This week is for people who want to be involved, want to be part of local and global efforts to save the environment and be more aware of their surroundings,” she said.

The theme of Sustainability Week is “Establishing Roots.”

On Monday, March 30, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Hylton will lecture in Stahr Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. In his lecture, “Save Our Land, Save Our Towns: Growing Communities, Not Sprawl,” Hylton will consider efforts to live a more neighborhood-focused lifestyle.

“Through careful planning, we can encourage a neighborhood-focused way of life—centered around villages, towns and cities—that can reduce our cost of living, preserve open space, protect the environment and give us a feeling of place and belonging,” Hylton said.

The Philadelphia Alumni Writers House will host the Fair Trade Cafe on Wednesday, April 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., offering a free lunch and the opportunity to meet local farmers who grow organic foods and sell them locally.

Armstrong received a Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for existing buildings. The building gets 75 percent of its power from wind energy, and 60 percent of the building’s waste is recycled.

Colette Buchanan ’08 will speak at a lunch on Friday, April 3, at noon, hosted by the Department of Earth & Environment in room 119 in the William H. Hackman Physical Sciences Laboratories.

Buchanan will discuss her work in environmental consulting, focusing on unexploded ordnance at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The lecture will be followed by a trip to the Lancaster Central Market at 1:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to walk to the market should meet at the Williamson Parking Lot. Transportation will be provided for anyone unable to walk.

The week concludes with Greenfest on Saturday, April 4, from noon to 5 p.m. on Hartman Green.

The day will include a green job fair, giving students the opportunity to consider a career in the green industry. Entertainment will be provided by WFNM, the Poor Richards, the Chessmen and the African Dance Troupe.